Power is Strength
by 2012001
Summary: (Originally written in 2009.) I thought we all came to a conclusion here? A happy ending? You know? It seems that everyone else, the others in society, have other plans.
1. Prologue

I thought we all came to a conclusion here? A happy ending? You know?

It seems that everyone else, the others in society, have other plans.

I, for one, was rather grateful that Mashtooth had...well, pretty much exploded. Of course, whaddya expect from me, "Punto?" The infamous Swabbie that was drop-kicked out a window?

Life before the invasion was good. We all lived in little buildings on the Pirate Fortress: the massive building that would be considered Mashtooth's 'pirate ship'. But there was only one key rule, and it wasn't too hard to comply with it.

DO NOT, with emphasis, EVER turn your back on us. Result? Well..not pretty. It's happened before, to one my close friends as well. Stella was very nice, but apparently didn't agree with the Swabbies and Mashtooth's easy capture of the Pink Planet (Long story for another day, please.) Mashtooth, in a sudden burst of outrage, had let his anger get the best of him.

Squeezed to death. Sounds funny, eh? No. It's vulgar and disturbing. And the worst part is that Ronk, Papes, and Snips were witnesses. And look what happened a year later. They live on Planet Bunnera, not because Mashtooth was a feared, powerful beast, but because the citizens invited them. Because they helped them. To kill Mashtooth.

Kill is a strong word. But bottom line, that's what happened. The star kid, Starfy, managed to thrust the Bunneran Moon at Mashtooth, causing him to disintegrate, releasing all of the power he'd taken. From a ground point of view, it was horrifying, and to put things simply, a vampire could've had a potluck for hundreds with the...stuff on the ground.

And so the Trio thought they'd escaped the tyrannical Mashtooth, and changed sides.

But they didn't. Not even close.

-

Olivar and I heaved the sword up onto the table. He didn't bother with scrubbing his hands: he went along stirring the mixture in the bowl. I cleared my throat hesitantly.

"Er..now what?"

"Sword," Olivar mumbled into the bowl, holding out his hand. I gave him the sword, and he snagged it right out of my palms. I peeked over the edge. Whatever he was mixing, it smelled fowl and was murky, dark, and bubbly. I cringed, and Olivar laughed.

"Ah, Loopy," he said, using the Boss's old nickname. "There's some things that you don't get yet."

"Like what?" I demanded. Olivar merely snickered, dumping more ingredients into the mix.

"Ah, a lot of things. Hm...maybe where babies come from? Or, how you make toast?"

"I know that stuff!" I grumbled. Olivar laughed hysterically.

"Aha, maybe only the second one!" he grinned. I glared at him.

"I really hate you, I do."

Olivar smiled. "Of course," he murmured, lifting the sword and gently stirring the bowl's contents. He muttered something under his breath, and we waited in anticipation.

BOOM.

The room was rocked by a loud explosion. I stumbled and gripped the table. Olivar swayed around, grinning ear to ear. Then, the violent rocking stopped.

A hand waved around out of the bowl frantically, hands closing on the sword.


	2. Chapter 1

"STARRRFYYY!"

"MOOEEEE!"

Both in question hid behind their magazines. It was a nice day on Pufftop, and why would Starly try to ruin it with some nonsensical request?

Starly smirked at her brother. You wouldn't assume he would be the great hero of both Pufftop and Bunnera. If you would assume anything, you'd see Starfy as an unworthy prince. You would imagine in wonder at how he was even royalty. Starly tore the pink sunglasses off Starfy's face.

"And why do you have my glasses?!"

"'Cause," Starfy murmured from behind his book. Starly sighed.

"Cause why?"

"'Cause," he repeated. Moe grimaced.

"Free country, ya know!"

"So?" Starly snapped. "Stealing isn't right!"

"I didn't steal your sunglasses!" Starfy muttured.

"Taking stuff without asking is stealing, Starf!" she shot back. "And stealing is illegal!"

"You're illegal!" Moe snapped. Starly rolled her eyes and wandered away.

"What's got her pants in a twist?" Moe grumbled, picking up her sunglasses and dusting the sand off them. "She's probably jealous, 'cause princess just can't live up to prince!"

Starfy nodded silently and flipped past another article about him. Truth be told, he never asked for all of this publicity, he just wanted to help the poor little guy! Sure he ended up helping a lot more people, but was it really worth millions of photographs, interviews, and magazine articles? Starly was better suited to that, and it showed in the eyeliner and the lipstick she never wore before. Moe even managed to snag a show on prime time!

What's with fame nowadays? Starfy thought to himself.

"You seem off, Starf."

"I'm not off!"

"I know you better than anyone, and I know when you're feeling down," he replied. "like when we were coming back to Pufftop? And you were so disappointed?"

Starfy nodded; he missed his new friend Bunston already. "I guess I just miss Bunston, that's all," he said.

"So do I," Moe agreed. "but you never get this upset!"

"Guess today's a little different," Starfy murmured, looking up at the clouds, where his castle floated blissfully in air.

-

As much as she should've been happy the Bunnerans permitted them to stay, Snips couldn't help but feel slightly disheartned. They didn't deserve to have this nice little house! They worked for Mashtooth out of their own free will! Nothing, in her mind, could ever make up for doing that.

Ronk gave her a small pat on the shoulder.  
"Don't be so hard on yourself! I mean, c'mon, if they didn't like us we wouldn't be here..right?" he said.

Snips shook her head. She was shocking herself by how badly she was taking this. She felt even more awful then Ronk or Papes, mainly because she'd been one of Mashtooth's original 'followers'. On top of everything, he put more trust in her than he probably had in anyone else. He'd actually cared about her on some level, unlike a majority of the people he associated with. Almost like...she couldn't bear think of the word.

Snips shuddered. She couldn't shake the mental image of the Bunnerans, lying bruised and scattered about the Bunneran Castle...and to think, for five years, she'd listened to that evil pirate's commands, took pleasure in his many victories, enjoying the respect and fear vicariously through him..

Ronk took her response as chills, and left the room.

"Why is it always me?" she whispered.


	3. Chapter 2

"Oh...my...Gosh..."

"M...Ma..."

"My word..."

The Swabbies standing close by scrambled around each other, pushing and shoving to get out of each other's way.  
"I'm dreaming! I must be asleep! No one wake me up!"

The Swabbie was pinched on the arm. His eyes widened in alarm.

"I said not to...oh! Hey! I wasn't dreaming, what do you know?"

Mashtooth snickered. "Mervin?"

Mervin's eyes widened. "Lord Mashtooth! You remember me?!"

"Of course I do," Mashtooth snorted. "you always showed up with some article of clothing on backward."

"Oh," Mervin mumbled, blushing. Mashtooth rolled his eyes and continued down the corridor. More and more workers stared in awe at the sight of their leader strutting around his fortress. A few muttured some insults under their breath, earning a feirce glare and a lingering feeling of dread.  
Olivar hurried breathlessly up to Mashtooth.

"Sir, I think you'll find everything in order and just the way you asked!"

Pushing open the door, Mashtooth nodded. "Mm," he murmured. "I did like that little 'throne' I had back on Bunnera.."

"Sir, if you don't mind me asking," Olivar began. "what are your thoughts on that?"

"Er, oh, that?" Mashtooth said. Olivar felt like rolling his eyes: his leader's short memory was still a shortcoming, but he knew better and kept his mouth shut. "Hm..you know, I'm not sure.."

"Do you need me to freshen your memory?"

"Yeah," Mashtooth admitted.  
"There were two little guys, Starfy and what's-his-name the clam, they came with Prince Bunston to Bunnera, you absorbed Bunston's powers and became-"

"Ohh!" Mashtooth growled. "Dumb furry things and their dumb little five-armed hero.."

"You know, we do still have the Trio on Bunnera, sir! We could turn around and kick their furry transforming as-"  
The Swabbie paused.  
"Lord Mashtooth?"

Mashtooth stared out the window, at a faint, tiny blinking light in the distance. He immediately recognized it as Planet Bunnera. He snickered, then burst out in full-blown laughter.  
"Am I missing something?" Olivar demanded. Mashtooth shook his head.

"No," he cackled. "but they are! GWA HA HA!"

Olivar wanted to roll his eyes at the creepy laugh, but knew better.

"Who are they, exactly, sir?"

Mashtooth looked at the blinking light. He sneered.

"Olly boy, it's so obvious you make me look smarter than I already am."


	4. Chapter 3

The Bunnera Castle guard opened one eye, only to find an orange dragon standing before him.

"Raaaaaggh?" it asked. The guard rubbed his eyes.

"What?"

"Raaaaaggh," the dragon repeated.

"Speak English!"

With a blinding flash of white light, the dragon morphed back into a blue rabbit.

"You fell asleep," the other Bunneran said. "you sure you wanna watch tonight?"

"I'm sure," the guard replied sleepily. "and no one's gonna think about attacking us, 'cause they know we're in good with Pufftop and all.."

"Yeah," the second guard murmured. "So, 'nite, I suppose,"

"Night," the guard replied. As soon as his partner left, he stared out at the rocky scenery of Bunnera.

"Stay awake!" he commanded himself. He kept his eyes wide open.

"Ugh..maybe a few minutes won't kill.." he told himself. Unfortunately, the very moment he shut his eyes and drifted off, was the same moment a dark airship crossed the skyline.

-

On this particular airship, a red dragon was admiring the familiar scenery, basking in the deja vu, but still disturbed by what happened on this same planet less than two weeks previous.

"Lord Mashtooth, sir?"

Mashtooth grunted. That voice had a too-familiar squeaky ring to it. Luplis grimaced.

"Uh, should we land here, sir?"

Mashtooth growled, "Yeah." He suddenly grinned. "Yeah..here's good."

Luplis didn't trust that smile. "Okay, sir-"

He squealed as Mashtooth grabbed him by his belt loop.

"Lord Mashtooth, why are you grabbing my pants?"

"Ah, no reason," he snickered and abruptly jerked the Swabbie up into the air. Luplis cringed.  
"What did I do?!"

"DO YOU QUESTION ME?"

"Wha-YAAAHHH!" he wailed as Mashtooth raised him up higher. "UNCLE! UNCLE!"

"What are you, six?" Mashtooth laughed as he dropped Luplis. "Stay outta my way, Loopy, or I swear to myself you're getting it."

Luplis inched away, then broke out in a run. Mashtooth couldn't help but notice he was crying and holding his bottom.

-

Ronk stared up at the skyline. In all fairness, it was a boring night, no one to obliviate, not even a little robber. He sighed and waved down to Papes.

"It's all good," he called. Papes nodded.

"Same!"

Ronk stared at the rooftops. Same little brick house after another, a purple storefront once in a while..

Ping.

Snips ran up to Ronk breathlessly. "RONK!"

"Jeez, I'm right here!" he snapped. Snips shook her head.

"No! I know I'm crazy, and I might be tired and seeing things, but there's this ship crossing over by-"

Ronk smiled. "I get to pound someone's face in?!"

"NO!" Snips shrieked. "No, not unless you-" Snips paused.

Pingg.

"Snips?!" Ronk asked. Papes ran up to Ronk.

"What was that?! What was wrong with Snips? Did you see how she.."

"Papes?"

"Ma...oh, my..Ma.."

"Papes, jeez, they're spiders, get over 'em! No we've got jobs to do!"

"No, Ronk, oh, gawd, ohh no.."

"Papes?!"

"Yess?"

Ronk swore he could feel his heart stop. And if he weren't frightened to death, he might've given the 'intruder' a piece of his mind. Papes trembled in place.

"Ma...Mash...Mashtooth?"

Ronk turned around. Mashtooth grinned sickly at Ronk.

"Nice seeing you, chump," he sneered, slapping him roughly on the shoulder. He winced. Mashtooth turned to Papes.

"You too, shortstuff."

Papes shook his head. "We..saw..you..blow..up..!"

Ronk nodded slowly. "Yeah, like..with all the..gore?"

"Blow up?" Mashtooth laughed. "Blow up?!"  
He slapped Ronk across the face. "Rocky here saw me blow up?"

With a loud snap, Ronk was thrust into a streetlamp. The light swayed and collapsed. Papes looked at Ronk.

"Ronk!" He turned to glare at Mashtooth. "What did you do to him?" he growled, balling his fists. "WHAT DID YOU DO TO HIM?!"

"That was nothing," Mashtooth smiled, and grabbed Papes. Papes gulped. He, as well as Snips, Ronk, or anyone else associated with Mashtooth, could recognize what was coming.

"Backtalking," Mashtooth growled and tigthened his grip on Papes. Papes let out a shriek.

"Bwaktawlkin?" Papes gurbled. Mashtooth squeezed harder.

Oh..

Papes cringed. Already he could barely breathe. Mashtooth smiled deviously.

"Yes, pipsqueak, backtalking is the most annoying form of disrespect. And Mashtooth..he doesn't do backtalkers."

Papes gagged. Now he couldn't see anything but dark, swirling mist, and hear Mashtooth's throaty, victorious laughter..

"MASHTOOTH!"

Papes felt himself being dropped onto the stone street. As his vision slowly returned to normal, he saw the pink blur, the ears..

"Sni..Sni..Snips!" he gasped. "He's..he's too strong for you!"

Snips looked at Ronk and Papes. She fought back tears as she turned to Mashtooth.

"What did you do to them?"

Mashtooth stared at her, his face a mix of emotions. Snips cleared her throat.

"Well?" she said icily.

Mashtooth shrugged. "Eh, one was very close to cream cheese, the other guy, well, I guess maybe a fracture and a broken lamp."

Snips squeezed her eyes shut. Cream cheese?...fracture?...

She couldn't remember when Mashtooth attempted to strangle anyone. Sure, he would if he could, but he'd never actually tried. And although she could recall several times he'd done worse, it still managed to strike the most fear, mainly because of the 'slow and painful' process..  
Snips glared at Mashtooth.

"Just...tell-actually, how are you here?" she stated. Mashtooth cast a glance at the ship hovering overhead.

"I've still got some buddies, or, baddies," he snickered. Then his eyes turned dead serious. "Not everyone turned traitor, Snips," he muttured. Snips stared at him blankly, mouth forming an O. He shouted out,  
"OLIVAR!"

A short Swabbie, whom Snips immediately recognized as Mashtooth's number one and head of all the others, saluted him.

"Yes, sir?"

"You know."

"Yes, sir," Olivar smiled. Two space Swabbies leapt down from the aircraft, holding a covered object. They both had apologetic looks in their eyes, but other than that their faces showed nothing but loyalty to their risen leader.

Snips glared at the Swabbies in disbelief until recognition hit her. She blinked, trying to make the figures become clearer, but couldn't.  
And everything went black.


	5. Chapter 4

Starfy looked out at the Pufftop scenery. Starly and her friends, all running around and obviously having a wild time. He sighed. Sometimes when Moe went on his 'family trips' every couple months, it felt very lonely. He was absently watching Starly spin herself dizzy when a pale, teal glow slowly settled overhead. A low whir could also be heard. Starfy rubbed his eyes.

Nope, it was definitely teal outside. And he was definitely hearing the buzzing, he decided. Suddenly, a light clicked on in his mind:  
That teal color..  
"Bunston?!" Starfy called out. He smiled and raced for the door.

"Watch your step, Prince Starfy!" a nearby guard chuckled. Starfy ignored him. He grinned. The haze was indeed the sun reflecting off Bunston's ship. He could also faintly make out where they had pieced together the ship.

The door atop the ship creaked open. Starfy waited impatiently as Bunston crawled out of the door.  
"Bunston!" Starfy cried. Starly and her friends had stopped playing and were watching, too.

"Starfy!" Bunston waved back energetically. The two hugged each other tigthly. Starly just waved. Bunston smiled. "I honestly never thought I'd see you again!"

"Mmm-hm," Starfy hummed. He was just too happy Bunston was here! Bunston's smile vanished in a second.

"Where's Moe?"

"Oh," Starfy murmured. Of course Bunston would want to see Moe as well. "he's out with his family..I can't remember exactly where he said, but it's somewhere in the Lagoon."

Bunston sighed. "It's bad, Starf, really bad."

"What?" Starfy asked. Starly had abandoned her friends and stood beside her brother.

"Bunston, what's wrong? Is something happening?"

"Happened," Bunston said. "Junior was test-driving the Cosmos Express, and he thought to pop by and visit Ronk, Papes, and Snips, 'cause they're working patrols now, and they weren't there."

"Maybe they got hungry," Starly suggested. Bunston shook his head.

"No, they would've left a note, or something, but it was like they just disappeared!"

"They're gone?" Starfy asked, his voice rising. "But..was there anyone else there?"

"Nope, there was a couple of new potholes, and someone rammed into a street lamp..but the point is that they're gone!"

Starfy frowned. This wasn't exactly what he wanted to hear. As much difficulty they'd put him, Bunston, and Moe through, they turned out to have an okay side of them, a side wanting to do better good. And even Moe admitted it, their success wouldn't have been a success if they hadn't slowed down Mashtooth..  
"Starly," Bunston finally said. "you still have that teleport thing?"

"This?" Starly asked, holding out a round gem. Bunston nodded.

"We're gonna need it."

"For what?"

"Moe," Bunston said, taking the gem from Starly. Starfy and Bunston touched the gem.

 _Zzzzzzpp._

With a small poof, they vanished.

-

Moe looked at the light shining through the water. With Big Squiddy gone, Gluglug Lagoon was a calmful place. Fish swimmed by like he and his siblings didn't even exist. His smallest sister poked a piece of coral timidly. His other brothers kicked an empty crab's shell back and forth.  
Yes, Gluglug Lagoon was certainly much more calm.

 _ZZZZzzzp._

"Moe!"

Moe turned around to face the source. He grinned when he saw Bunston.

"Bunston! I wasn't expe.." Moe stopped short when he noticed that the Bunneran Prince wasn't smiling. "Er...you all right?"

Starfy pulled Moe aside and explained the Trio's disappearance. Moe frowned.

"Maybe Mashtooth's ghost came and got 'em," he said. Bunston frowned.

"Moe, be serious! It could've been anything, but Mashtooth's dead! People can't come back to life!"

Moe nodded. "I can be serious. Sorry."

Bunston held out the gem. "We're going back."

"Where? Pufftop?"

"Nope."

 _ZZZZZzzzp._

"I'm gettin' MAJOR deja vu," Moe murmured as he looked at the rocky surroundings. The Bunnera Castle, formerly so looming and dark, now looked more welcoming, more friendly. Bunnerans walked along the stone roads, waving, squealing, and pointing at Starfy and Moe. Of course, Starfy thought. EVERYONE knows. Bunston lead them down a sidestreet.

"How come these weren't there last time?" Moe wondered. Starfy agreed, these homes and buisnesses weren't there before.

"We're in the Downtown right now," he explained. "Before we were just in the outskirts."

"Ah," Moe nodded. The street had a one-way exit through an alley. The alley led into a smoothly paved walkway.

"Starwalk," he said. "they actually named it after you," he added. Starfy blushed. He thought that it was a bit much.

The Starwalk led right to a short bridge, on the other end sat the castle. Moe and Starfy gulped. Even if the danger level was low, the awful experiences from the building still lingered like spirits. Bunston looked at ease, however.  
"Welcome, I guess?" he said, smiling.

"Your Highness, and Prince Starfy and Moe, too!" a guard smiled. "Pleasure to see you again!"

"Yep," Starfy replied. Bunston still had a cross look on his face. The guard looked at his expression warily.

"Your Highness, Prince Bunston..I don't trust that look!"  
Bunston frowned.

"Any leads?"

"Well, n-"

"PRINCE!"

The three heroes turned around. A guard was running to them, breathless.

"I'm so sorry, your highness, I'm sorry! I couldn't have known it was them, and I'm sorry for falling asleep on the clock! Oh, oh, please forgive me!"

Bunston looked bewildered. "Wha..what happened?"

"They were kidnapped, taken, by the one thing we all feared may have happened..since they all left, without-"

"Without whom?" Bunston demanded. The guard sniffed.

"..The trio was taken by pirates."

-

"MOVE!" Mashtooth growled at Ronk, who winced. Papes clung onto Snips's arm, dizzy. Snips, making away with nothing more than minor bruises and scrapes, looked worriedly at Papes, who turned green every once in a while, and at Ronk, who limped along on a bad leg.

"Can't you hear me? MOVE IT!"

Ronk groaned. Brute force was always a known trait. Mashtooth laughed at his poor scowl.  
"Funny," he commented. Two Sky Swabbies hovered overhead, ready for any sign of escape.

"You're blocking out the light," he snapped at one of them. The Swabbie grimaced and moved forward. Mashtooth grinned.

"Better."  
Ronk murmured, "Monkey," under his breath. Snips and Papes snorted.

"What's funny? Am I missin' something there," Mashtooth grumbled. Snips shook her head.

"No, but Papes just puked, so you might wanna-"

"EEW! Seriously?! What the freaking hell?! Can't you wait?! I mean, jeez, come on! Do you.."

"Lord Mashtooth, sir, she was joking," one of the floating pirates said. Mashtooth frowned.

"Oh. Well, please don't puke on the floor," he mumbled.  
Papes groaned. Snips wondered if she should've waited a few more moments.

-

Mashtooth lead the trio to a small, confined room, the only light coming from two wide glass windows, and the light outside was dim as it was. The Swabbies lead them to three stools. They hesitantly sat, only to find themselves immobile. Mashtooth cackled at their confused faces.

"Ah, you guys look so funny."  
Mashtooth sat in a chair directly across from them, waving the Swabbies away. They promptly left, bowing as they exited. Mashtooth smiled at them.

"How's life?" he smirked. He called out the door:

"LOOPY!"

Luplis hurried in, apparently waiting outside the whole time. "Yes, sir?"

"Watch these...things," he sneered. "I have to go talk to Olivar, and, do NOT screw this up."

"N-no, sir!" Luplis stammered, cringing at Mashtooth's wicked smile. He hurried into the chair his master had sat in. Mashtooth's heavy footsteps thudded down the hall, and Luplis sighed.

"You guys, what were you thinking?!"

"Luplis?" Ronk said. "Well, it was gonna happen eventually..."

"Don't you remember what became of Stella?" he hissed. "You're lucky I made those chairs," he added. Snips frowned.

"So why aren't you helping us?"

"I'm in hot water enough as it is!"

Papes sighed. "Sure, but why.."

"HEY! STOP THAT!" Luplis suddenly screamed. "DON'T TRY ANY FUNNY BUSINESS! HEY-WAIT, DON'T TRY THAT! IF YOU _JUMP OUT THAT WINDOW_ , YOU'RE DEAD MEAT!"

He pointed towards the window. Ronk glared at him.

"We're stuck!" he whispered.

"HEY! HOW'D YOU GET _UNSTUCK_?!" Luplis wailed, and they could feel their senses returning to them.

"HEY! HEY! DON'T _JUMP_ OUT THERE!" he bellowed. The trio jumped off their chairs, and darted towards the window. From down the hall, Mashtooth roared.

"LOOPY! Get 'em!"

Ronk slammed against the glass pane, causing it to shatter to pieces. Ronk and Papes jumped out, screaming as they fell. Snips turned around and grinned at Luplis.  
"Thanks, 'Loopy', I owe you one," she whispered, before leaping out the window herself.


End file.
